ComplaintsforDan Can Do Construction

• Initial Complaint

  08/17/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I hired *** to pull up some sod, level our yard, and spread road mix. I sprayed a line where the road mix was supposed to end. I asked for enough dirt to be removed to spread the entirely of the road mix. The job was done very poorly. The yard is not even close to level, the road mix is very thick in some places and very thin in others so dirt is showing through. He only spread about 60% of the road mix leaving several yards unused and still sitting in our driveway. The line where the gravel meets the yard is not even close to a clean line and very messy. The yard is high in spots and low in others. Dirt is still piled up high against the fence. I knew before hand that spreading the old sod over the yard would leave some lumpy spots. That isn't my issue. Even though we agreed the surface would be "ready for seed" I did agree that there would be lumps. The issue is the dirt was not properly dug out and level before he spread the gravel, and the grade wasn't properly set before he spread the lumpy sod over it. I now have to hire another company to come fix it, and it will be more expensive this time because they have to separate the road mix from the dirt, which was spread over uneven ground in order to get it properly level. *** was not the cheapest bid. In fact, he was about double. But he promised that I would be "ready for seed" and the landscaping would be complete after he was done, and it's not even close.*** insisted on cash only. Later he told me it's because people often void their checks after the job. I regret paying hiring and paying him.

  Business response

  08/27/2022

  I was txt by **** to come over and look at a project he needed done. He showed me what he needed done and I gave him a bid which he accepted. He had hauled in some roadmix to put in a area between his house and the concrete slab in front of his shop approx. area 20'x25'. I was to take out the sod in that particular area and put it in a pile which I did. Part of the job was to take a big pile of dirt and spread it a area that needed leveled. I did take the pile of dirt and had it very level in the area he wanted it. There was a very big area where the dirt pile had been pushed up against the fence. I got most of it away with my skid steer and left a little bit there that would take 30 seconds to move with a shovel. He asked me about the pile and I told him what it was from. He told me he would rake it in to the dirt there before he hydro seeded the area. So that is the dirt pile **** is talking about. Next thing he is talking about is the area where I took the sod out and prepared the area for the roadmix. House steps where about 12" higher than the concrete slab so made it very hard to try not to have the steps be much higher to get it level completely like he originally wanted it to be. So it could be completely leveled.  As far as having gravel left over it was his fault getting to much delivered. I had nothing to do with getting the gravel. When I got done putting the sod in a pile **** told he wanted to put the sod on top of the dirt I had just leveled out. I told **** do not do that as it is impossible to get it level with sod/dirt in it as it clumps up. I even told him i would haul it off cheap. I told it that it would be a lot of work as you would have to rake out all the sod away from the dirt. He said no problem. So I did what I was told to do the best I could and it looked like I thought it would. And one thing I will bring up is **** was out there working with me 80% of the time and he Ok'd everything that was done. He paid me at the end and told me it looked fine. That same night I got a call from him complaining about how hard it was separating the sod from the dirt and wanted me to come back and fix it. This is a person who was out there watching everything being done, he was told not to put the sod/dirt on the nice area I had leveled with the dirt and most of all said everything is fine and paid me. I guarantee my jobs 100% but when a person goes against what I told him not to do and is completely satisfied and pays me before I leave the customer should be responsible for his actions. I run into a customer like **** once in awhile who does not take the responsibility on the fact that he should have listened to me. ***

  Customer response

  08/31/2022

   
  Complaint: 17728666
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

   

  "I got most of it away with my skid steer and left a little bit there that would take 30 seconds to move with a shovel."

   

  I have spent 2-3 hours leveling this section by hand with *****, a pick, and a shovel and it's still not complete. 30 seconds of work is completely unrealistic.

   

  "House steps where about 12" higher than the concrete slab so made it very hard to try not to have the steps be much higher to get it level completely like he originally wanted it to be."

   

  This is why we hired and payed someone who claimed to be able to do this. He said he could do it and then changed his tune after being paid to do it.

   

  " As far as having gravel left over it was his fault getting to much delivered"

   

  We calculated out that a 28 x 28 square foot area 3 inches deep would take about 196 cubic feet of road mix plus a little more for the fire pit area. That comes to 7.3 yards excluding the fire pit area, and we had 8 delivered. The last .6 yards (20 cubic feet) was to be used for another project, which it was. We specified that we wanted enough material removed to use all of the road mix. I stressed this on multiple occasions, but *** didn't scrape enough dirt away and then proceeded to spread the road mix. Once he started spreading the road mix he insisted this couldn't be undone. There are sections where dirt is now showing through because it is not deep enough. There are some pretty thick spots (4 to 6 inches) and some spots where it's as shallow as 1/2 inch. Furthermore, there isn't the area above needed to lay down our gravel. I explained this to him in great detail but once he was on site he didn't seem interested in listening. He just told me I was inexperienced and he knew what he was doing. Now the road mix is too shallow with dirt showing through, the area is way too high, there is no room for gravel, and the line isn't even straight where it is supposed to stop. This isn't what we paid for.

   

  "I told **** do not do that as it is impossible to get it level with sod/dirt in it as it clumps up."

  This isn't my issue. The lumps can be raked which is what we did. The issue is the grade in the yard now isn't close to being level. There are high spots and low spots, and the high spots are areas where he didn't till up the dirt so it is still hard packed.

   

  "I even told him i would haul it off cheap."

  It wasn't cheap to haul it off, and it was in addition to the original quote. The scope of work didn't change, he wanted more money to do the job he originally quoted.

   

  I did indeed pay him when he said he was done. I didn't have a chance to look it over thoroughly because I was busy with a customer. *** said he would be there on Monday which is when I had the time to help, but he didn't come until Tuesday when I had people in and out of the office.

  Now *** is harassing me on ************ and keeps trying to contact me demanding I remove my reviews despite me explicitly saying on multiple occasion I will call the police if he doesn't stop trying to contact me. Now he is insisting he talk to my wife which is not going to happen. I had to block him on social media. She doesn't want to talk to him either. At no point has he offered to fix the work unless we wait several months. We needed to list our house on the market last week.

   

   

   

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